Common Sense: Invest Today to Save Tomorrow

The Phailin cyclone
hit India in 2013 and tragically killed 40 people; however, another storm of the
same size hit India in 1999, killing about 10,000 people. The difference was
that India invested in systems against natural disasters. It is estimated that every dollar invested
in these early warning systems can provide $36 in economic
benefits.

The World Bank is
committed to climate change because it is strongly related to extreme poverty.
Today more than ever, we are witnessing the results of global warming. 2014 was
the warmest year on record, with extreme temperatures approaching the
physiological limits that humans and animals can resist.

We have to find ways for
economic growth to have a greater impact on poverty reduction by attacking
inequality in a more direct way. As Dr. Jim Yong Kim explained in his lecture,
extreme weather conditions tend to have the greatest impact on poor countries
because they are not prepared for such disasters. It is also important to note that developed
countries also negatively impact poor countries. Developed countries have the
largest carbon emissions, due to their consumption of fossil fuels and high
number of cities, which directly or indirectly affect poor countries through
climate change. Pope Francis calls governments to act on climate change because
it "affects all humanity, especially the poor and future generations"
so it is "a serious ethical and moral responsibility."

Therefore, we must separate
economic growth from carbon emissions. How is this done?

The World Bank
proposes five initiatives: 1) Establish a price for carbon. 2) Eliminate fossil
fuel subsidies, which are estimated at $500 billion a year. 3) Improve energy
efficiency and the use of renewable energy. 4) Create cleaner, more efficient, and sustainable cities. 5) Develop climate smart agriculture. The Pope, as a
representative of Catholic social thought, says "the time to find global solutions is
running out. We can only find suitable solutions if we act together and with concordant
solutions. There is therefore a clear, definite and urgent ethical imperative
to act."

In conclusion, we have
time to reverse or keep carbon emissions at their current levels. Governments
need to create awareness that the current production methods are destroying the
planet, and that investing in proper alert systems and refugee centers can translate
into lower costs in the future. It is also necessary to create neutral carbon
growth policies and to favor the World Bank’s five initiatives in order to
combat climate change in an economically efficient manner. And to quote the
representative of the Catholic Church, we need "a culture of solidarity,
encounter and dialogue; able to show the responsibility to protect the planet
and the human family."